I would like to say that I was born a poor boy, youngest of 57 children in the black hills of Appalachia, however that's not true. Actually, I am a member of the imperial house of Romanov and now with Anastasia finally out of the way, I hope to be the reigning Czar of all the Russias, including Little Moscow just outside of Philadelphia. Like a lot of other expectant reigning monarchs, I have a studio in Long Branch, New Jersey where I do cartooning, mostly for invitations and holiday cards, acrylic painting, somewhere between pop-art and surrealism, and pen & ink drawing depicting contemporary moments of the everyday, rendered in as much detailed realism as my strained eyesight will allow.

As you can see from the pieces posted here the subjects have a photographic quality to them, that's because I usually photograph my subjects. To be more accurate I photograph everything and everyone then choose my subjects from there. Then WITHOUT the use of a projector I draw the composition in pencil then ink it in. I do employ a technique of graphing the subject to enlarge the drawing, I think this was once called "Veronica's Veil" but I call it "Graphing a' la de Vinci" because that's how Leonardo did his murals and it sounds so artzy-fartsy.

Just as important as the rendering is the negative space around it. I edit out a lot so as not to fill up the page with the drawing but to place it in such a way that it creates a shape reacting to the size of the paper. The white space takes form and (hopefully) balances the items in the drawing as though they were a single object. Usually a triangle, a cheese wedge, cubes, cones or a large "S" sprawled from bottom to top. Think of it as a form of minimalism that you can recognize. Confused? Well you and everyone else I've tried to explain this to. If you like you can contact me through:

Joyce's Golden Palette
395 Main Street
suite #7
Metuchen, N.J. 08840
(732) 247-8672

You can also see my work at these locations:

Joyce's Golden Palette
395 Main Street
suite #7
Metuchen, N.J.

Art Alliance of Monmouth County
33 Monmouth Street
Red Bank, N.J.

Guild of Creative Art
620 Broad Street
Rt. 35 Shrewsbury, N.J.

Ward-Nasse Gallery
78 Prince Street
New York, N.Y.

Oh, and I lied about the whole Romanov thing, however I have wondered how many people would have to be taken out for me to be next in line for the throne of England. Hey ya' gotta dream man.